BFREN: Lloyd declared Snetterton round two winner

Alex Lloyd won an eventful Formula Renault race at Snetterton. One
single lap saw Lloyd move up from fifth to second and, with leader Tom
Sisley already hit with a 10 second penalty, Lloyd held on to second
place and got promoted to winner as he...

Alex Lloyd won an eventful Formula Renault race at Snetterton. One
single lap saw Lloyd move up from fifth to second and, with leader Tom
Sisley already hit with a 10 second penalty, Lloyd held on to second
place and got promoted to winner as he crossed the line.

Alex Lloyd.

Photo by Mark Gledhill.

The single qualifying session meant that drivers' fastest times were
used to determine the grid for race one and the drivers' next fastest
times were used to determine the grid for race two. Mike Conway
therefore started from pole position with Tom Sisley alongside him, Tom
Spencer in third and James Lewis Hamilton fourth.

The practice of drivers creeping during the red light is an unfortunate
part of lower formula racing - sometimes drivers benefit from it whereas
sometimes they get caught out. Tom Sisley, starting from second place,
was initially a beneficiary of it as he made a flying start to get
alongside Mike Conway along the pit straight and then into the lead at
the first corner. Spencer meanwhile made a slow start and dropped back
to fifth behind Hamilton and Lloyd.

Sisley's flying start, however, did not go unnoticed by the officials
and the leader was quickly awarded a 10 second penalty, to be added
to his race time. This effectively put Sisley out of the running and
promoted Conway to the lead.

Spencer overtook Lloyd on lap four and moved up to fourth place. Then
Hamilton, who had be closely trailing Conway for several laps, saw an
opportunity and pulled alongside and ahead of lap ten. Conway had been
unaware of Sisley's time penalty and made a mistake while pushing hard
to catch the leader.

Mike Conway.

Photo by Mark Gledhill.

The race changed totally on lap eleven. Spencer got caught out by
Conway's slipstream and ran over the final chicane to avoid running wide
into Hamilton who was alongside him. This caused Hamilton to back off
he was subsequently passed by Conway. Alex Lloyd, meanwhile, who had
been minding his own business in fifth place, suddenly found himself in
second.

Sisley set about lapping as fast as possible in order to recover as
much of the 10-second deficit. He crossed the line in the lead but
was eventually relegated to seventh place, thus handing the win to a
delighted Alex Lloyd. Mike Conway finished second, annoyed that not
knowing about Sisley's penalty could have cost him the win, and Hamilton
finished in third place, having been blocked by other drivers for the
second time over the weekend.

Round three of the championship will take place at Brands Hatch after
the Champ Car race on May 5th.